323 North Queen Street Lancaster, Pennsylvania
This landmark building has a long history as the Keppel candy factory. Robert F. Keppel Sr was a pioneer Lancaster candymaker who became a nationally known confectioner.
He began his career as a young boy in Lancaster pushing a cart selling “Hokey-Pokey” snowballs of shaved ice and fruit syrups. At age 11 he began working for candymaker Joseph H. Huber. By age 15 he was making chocolate Easter eggs in his parents’ home. He became one of this region’s premier candymakers.
Robert Keppel moved his candy company into this building in 1916. The building had been constructed in 1913 for the tobacco business of Jacob G. Shirk, dealer in cigars, pipe tobacco, etc. This structure was the largest wholesale tobacco saleshouse in Pennsylvania. This tobacco company encountered financial difficulty, so the candy company was able to purchase this building three years after it was built.
The architect was C. Emlen Urban, Lancaster’s most important homegrown architect. The building has a Beaux-Arts facade of glazed terra-cotta tile. The cornice is ornamented with modillions, console brackets, and a central cartouche.